Cary, Ruth

ORAL HISTORY OF E. RUTH CARY
Interviewed by Keith McDaniel
January 25, 2012
MR. MCDANIEL: This is Keith McDaniel and today is January the 25th, 2012. I am at the home of Ms. E. Ruth Cary here in Oak Ridge. Ms.Cary, thank you for taking time to speak with me. Are you Mrs. Cary, Ms. Cary or Miss Cary?
MISS CARY: Miss Cary.
MR. MCDANIEL: Miss, okay Miss Cary. Okay, thank you for taking time to speak with us.
MISS CARY: Thank you.
MR. MCDANIEL: Let's just start at the beginning. I understand you had a big birthday about a year ago and you will be having another birthday in April, is that right?
MISS CARY: Coming up on my 91st birthday on April the 9th.
MR. MCDANIEL: April 9th. So, 91 years ago, almost, you were born. So why don't we start with that. Why don't you tell me about where you were born and something about your family.
MISS CARY: I was born in and grew up in a small coal mining town in southwest Virginia.
MR. MCDANIEL: Uh huh.
MISS CARY: And I --
MR. MCDANIEL: --What was the name of the town?
MISS CARY: The little mining town was Inman.
MR. MCDANIEL: Inman.
MISS CARY: And it was near Appalachia.
MR. MCDANIEL: Uh huh.
MISS CARY: Big Stone Gap in that area Wise County.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: and I finish high school in Appalachia in 1938.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: And of course grew up in the depression.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yes.
MISS CARY: In a large family.
MR. MCDANIEL: I was about to ask how many brothers and sisters did you have?
MISS CARY: I had, there was really two families. My father had been married before, his wife passed away. He had six children, married my mother and they had four children.
MR. MCDANIEL: So--
MISS CARY: So we became one big family.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you had ten kids.
MISS CARY: Ten kids in the family.
MR. MCDANIEL: And I guess that was kind of tough in those days.
MISS CARY: It was tough, we were fortunate in a way that my father was the butcher in the company store.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh really?
MISS CARY: And that worked out. We really had a lot to eat. But of course it was the depression and everybody was in the same boat and not much else.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, exactly. Now, so he worked, lived in the coal mine--
MISS CARY: In the coal mining town. Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: And he was the butcher in the company store.
MISS CARY: Right.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now how did the depression affect the coal mine?
MISS CARY: It -- the mines were still operating. Of course miners back then didn't make that much money.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: It was really, it was hard times really.
MR. MCDANIEL: I'm sure.
MISS CARY: The kids, very few of the kids even went to high school. We went to in Appalachia, which was maybe two miles --
MR. MCDANIEL: --Uh huh.
MISS CARY: --from the little mining town. And of course it looked like war was on the way, of course it hadn't been declared yet.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And graduating in 1938 before the war, but two of my brothers went in the Army. A lot of boys went into the Army.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And two of my brothers joined the Army. Both were stationed in Hawaii.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: From 1938 till I think they went for two years maybe two and a half and then when they got out of the Army and came back to the little mining town, things were really bad. There's not much work and it was really touch and go for a lot of them.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MISS CARY: And then in 1941 when Pearl Harbor happened, they volunteered to go back and two of my brothers went with them so--
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: And that time I had four brothers in the Army.
MR. MCDANIEL: Four brothers in the service. Now were in Hawaii. Where were they when they went the first time?
MISS CARY: Both of, one of them were stationed at Hickam Field I believe--
MR. MCDANIEL: Hickam Field--
MISS CARY: And then one was at uh – let’s see it wasn't--
MR. MCDANIEL: The reason I – it’s okay, the reason I asked was when my dad was in the service, he was at Hickam Field.
MISS CARY: Oh really?
MR. MCDANIEL: Yeah, but he went about two years after Pearl. I think that’s when he went, about 1943, is when he went to Hickam Field and he was there. So you graduated high school in '38.
MISS CARY: Right.
MR. MCDANIEL: So what did you do after you graduated high school?
MISS CARY: Well, the jobs were hard to find and the little town of Appalachia was the hub, there were several little mining towns that branched off--
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MISS CARY: But there was not much work, nothing at all in the mining town. And the Appalachia they were limited to what you could do.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MISS CARY: So I just kept hoping. I put my application in for the telephone company. And just sort of waited around.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And finally the big place, where everybody was hanging out was the Old Dominion Drug Store.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh really?
MISS CARY: And one day--
MR. MCDANIEL: Was that in Appalachia?
MISS CARY: That was in Appalachia.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MISS CARY: Dr. Holly, who was one of the doctors in town, his nurse was living in the little mining town that we did. We lived in the little section called Church Town.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh really?
MISS CARY: It was across the creek and that’s where the church was. So Dr. Holly's nurse lived there and she came back and said Dr. Holly wanted to know if you could come in, if you would be interested in the job at the Old Dominion. He'd like for you to come in and be interviewed.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MISS CARY: So I got the job at the Drug Store--
MR. MCDANIEL: At the Drug Store.
MISS CARY: Which was great.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh sure, sure.
MISS CARY: The Old Dominion was the place.
MR. MCDANIEL: It was the place?
MISS CARY: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: So what did you do there?
MISS CARY: I did it all.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, did you?
MISS CARY: Yes of course most of -- the counter was the big thing.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MISS CARY: I was the Soda Jerk, was what they called them--
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh were you. Now did Dr.-- did the doctor own the store.
MISS CARY: He owned the Drug Store but he wasn't the pharmacist, he was a medical doctor and he had Dr. Bray was the pharmacist.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay, all right.
MISS CARY: But I went to work at the Drug Store green as grass, didn't know a thing about anything.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now how old were you? Eighteen, nineteen.
MISS CARY: I was seventeen when I graduated, barely seventeen. I graduated at seventeen in April and graduated in May.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right? Okay and how long did it take for you to get that job?
MISS CARY: It was about a year and a half. I just--
MR. MCDANIEL: So you were eighteen almost nineteen when you went to work there?
MISS CARY: When I went to work at the Drug Store.
MR. MCDANIEL: But you were green?
MISS CARY: Oh, I didn't know a thing. The one good thing about it, not at the beginning but later they set up a Western Union booth in the corner which was a really nice, it was tie line from Appalachia to Bristol.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MISS CARY: All we did was type in the message and it went to Bristol and then it was --
MR. MCDANIEL: Gone out from there, sure.
MISS CARY: Yes but I did, I was, I learned to. We made everything from scratch, there was nothing like the ready-made cokes or whatever.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right, you had to mix everything.
MISS CARY: We had to fill the fountain with the syrups and do all the making. We put a little bit of coke syrup…
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, you did?
MISS CARY: Made our own syrup.
MR. MCDANIEL: How did you make carbonated water?
MISS CARY: We just, we didn't make our own carbonated water. It came into the fountain. We got our drum, our gas drum and it was made back in the--
MR. MCDANIEL: You know they are coming out with those now for the home.
MISS CARY: Yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: Little things where you can make your own carbonated water and your own soft drinks--
MISS CARY: --we made our own simple syrups. Just sugar and water.
MR. MCDANIEL: Really?
MISS CARY: And we had to do our own making. There was nothing, not even our ice. We had to shave the ice for the cokes and drinks.
MR. MCDANIEL: Did you?
MISS CARY: Make our own milkshakes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now did you serve food there as well?
MISS CARY: We only served, we had a little, it was a little like a counter--
MR. MCDANIL: Right.
MISS CARY: And it was Campbell's soup.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, really?
MISS CARY: And you had a cup that you plugged into the, well it was just a little counter--
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: You had a little cup that you plugged in and we had the Campbell's soup. It made cheese sandwiches and Dr. Holly's sister made the chicken salad and that’s all we served.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well that’s all you need.
MISS CARY: That’s all we needed. And all the teachers would come up from the high school and have lunch.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right. So how long did you work there?
MISS CARY: I worked there about three years.
MR. MCDANIEL: Three years, okay.
MISS CARY: And about that time, Kingsport, not too far from where we were, I should say. Maybe fifty miles, I've forgotten really the exact millage and the Holston Ordinance Plant was being built. Of course that's where Tennessee Eastman was located.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And this company was, had obtained the big contract to do the Ordinance plant and of course a lot of this, a lot of the sales men would come by the store. And at that time, several of the girls had gone into the Army.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: My best friend had already joined the Navy.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: She hadn't gone yet --
MR. MCDANIEL: uh huh.
MISS CARY: And that’s what I wanted to do.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And I'm sure since she was going, my mother wouldn't object, but my mother didn't want me to go and I wouldn't go because of that.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: So I didn't go to the Navy. So in talking to the salesman, a lot of people were familiar with what was going on in Kingsport. One of the fellows told me, he said, I call on him and he said I'm going to get the name of whatever it is, the personnel director or employment and if you’re interested I can help you get a job over there.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, okay.
MISS CARY: So that’s what happened.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, okay, well good.
MISS CARY: I went over and talked to them and put in my application, and in about three days they called me back to come back for an interview.
MR. MCDANIEL: Uh huh.
MISS CARY: And I got the job.
MR. MCDANIEL: Did you? And so did you move there.
MISS CARY: I went over on myself at first and then later my mother came and I had a younger sister that was still in school and my father, he had just retired and just maybe, oh I don't know six months after he retired from the store, the store burned.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: And the miner, they were going to different places in the community and my mother said she would try to come over later and maybe she could get a job.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh okay.
MISS CARY: So she did and we moved to Kingsport.
MR. MCDANIEL: Moved to Kingsport.
MISS CARY: And we were there about three years.
MR. MCDANIEL: Uh huh.
MISS CARY: And when the job finished, it was an engineering company.
MR. MCDANIEL: Uh huh.
MISS CARY: They finished the job and turned it over to Tennessee Eastman and if we wanted to stay they would talk to us. If they could place us, they would.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: But all my friends were coming to Oak Ridge because Oak Ridge was booming and they had been recruited to come to Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, sure.
MISS CARY: So that’s why I ended up in Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: So how did you, did you just apply for a job in Oak Ridge or how did that happen?
MISS CARY: One of the fellows that I met in Kingsport came to Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MISS CARY: He told me he would help me get on in Oak Ridge, which he did.
MR. MCDANIEL: Because I guess Tennessee Eastman at that point had the contract to basically run Oak Ridge, or to build it.
MISS CARY: Right. They wouldn't talk to me about a job in Kingsport, they wanted me to come to Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: They did?
MISS CARY: But I came and went to work for Ford, Bacon, and Davis.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh did you?
MISS CARY: In Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh okay, now how old where you and what year was it that you came to Oak Ridge?
MISS CARY: It was '44 and I was 23.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you were 23 in '44 and you came to Oak Ridge. What was your first impression of Oak Ridge?
MISS CARY: Oh gosh, of course I went through the employment office and I guess someone from employment took me down into the 1401 building at K-25--
MR. MCDANIEL: --K-25 -
MISS CARY: And I walked into that building, big overhead cranes, huge building and I said, I said that day I'll stay till the world ends, and then I'm going home.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And I was so homesick at first.
MR. MCDANIEL: Were you? Now where did you live?
MISS CARY: Lived in the dorm--
MR. MCDANIEL: Lived in the dorm, now which dorm were you in?
MISS CARY: I lived in Dothan Hall in West Village.
MR. MCDANIEL: In West Village.
MISS CARY: It was across from were the Garden Apartments, we called them--
MR. MCDANIEL: --right.
MISS CARY: Were located.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: There was a cafeteria in that section.
MR. MCDANIEL: Near Jefferson? That Jefferson--
MISS CARY: Near Jefferson and Adams cafeteria.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you lived in a dorm?
MISS CARY: In Dothan Hall, and loved it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Did you?
MISS CARY: I loved the dorm and of course my family was in Kingsport and I was homesick. And If I didn't have to work on weekend I would go to Bristol on the bus and get the train-- Go to Knoxville on the bus and get on a train to Bristol and then get the bus on over to Kingsport.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh really?
MISS CARY: If I didn't have to work on weekends.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now that was some kind of trip now wasn't it?
MISS CARY: Oh yes. Until the Army was here, until I met a boy in the Army and was a little satisfied.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well, there you go. So you came in '44?
MISS CARY: Uh huh.
MR. MCDANIEL: And you worked at K-25 for Ford, Bacon, and Davis?
MISS CARY: Started out and when they finished we were doing some test work, testing some of the equipment that would be placed in the big building that was about to be finished.
MR. MCDANIEL: The K-25 building?
MISS CARY: K big U.
MR. MCDANIEL: The big U, right.
MISS CARY: And--
MR. MCDANIEL: --what kind of testing, what kind of work was it?
MISS CARY: We didn't know what we were doing. We were reading instruments from a panel board.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, I see.
MISS CARY: And then we had a formula that we were to do calculations.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And then we were waiting for our calculators to come in so they gave us the slide rule, to do our formula on. We had to learn all how to do that.
MR. MCDANIEL: Did you know how to use a slide rule?
MISS CARY: Now, I had never seen one. But we learned enough to do multiplication and add, the addition and maybe a division, whatever the formula called for, they taught us to do that.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right, exactly.
MISS CARY: And when the calculators came in they took us off the slide rules and we learned to do the calculator.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MISS CARY: And then we used the calculator.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well that was 1944, so not many people had.
MISS CARY: Didn't have any computers, didn't have much of anything.
MR. MCDANIEL: Nope, you had your brain. So that was '44 and then you said you met a solider.
MISS CARY: A soldier yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: When did you meet him?
MISS CARY: In probably, maybe in the fall of '44.
MR. MCDANIEL: The fall of '44. All right so that made you less homesick?
MISS CARY: Yeah, we dated for about two years--
MR. MCDANIEL: Now what was it like being, other than being homesick before, what was it like being single in Oak Ridge?
MISS CARY: Well there were more women of course. A lot of the boys were in the Army.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And there were more women, eligible women than men.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: But it was nice. There was a lot of recreation. Lots of things to do in Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: In the early days. There was something, really something going on nearly every night. There were theaters, bowling alleys and then Knoxville was close and we could go to Knoxville on the bus.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MISS CARY: A famous eating spot was the S&S cafeteria.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MISS CARY: Right on Gay Street.
MR. MCDANIEL: On Gay Street.
MISS CARY: Lot of times we would go over and have breakfast.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now did you work shift work?
MISS CARY: I started out on the four to twelve shift, not a rotating shift.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh I see.
MISS CARY: But it didn't last long and when we finished the testing, I was assigned to a group and was on their shift.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right? So you worked from four to midnight?
MISS CARY: Right.
MR. MCDANIEL: When you stared out doing the testing work. So there were a lot of activities for young people?
MISS CARY: A lot of activities going on.
MR. MCDANIEL: Was there anything in particular that you like, that you cared for?
MISS CARY: I liked the dance on the tennis courts.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh did you?
MISS CARY: We had dances on -- and there was music, dances at all, we called them the Rec. Hall's.
MR. MCDANIEL: Those were, that was back when they had good music?
MISS CARY: Oh yes. All the big bands.
MR. MCDANIEL: All the big bands. Sure, sure. So you continued to work at K-25.
MISS CARY: I stayed at K-25.
MR. MCDANIEL: Let’s talk about that a little bit. Let’s talk about your career at K-25 and what you did there.
MISS CARY: Well like I said I started out doing the testing and then we were, they broke us up. I guess there might have been on the testing, there was about maybe ten or twelve people to each shift.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And we were all divided and there was-- I guess, I don't know maybe twenty five in the group that was assigned to J.C. Laycock. And he had a group called Production Calculations.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MISS CARY: Of course we were suppose to do all the calculations, all the paperwork for the engineers. Jimmy Parsons, I guess was the head of the engineering group at that time. And we did the calculations, anything that they had for us to do, was assigned to J.C. Laycock's group.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now I've talked to other people and they've said that you would see a group of maybe four or five ladies around a panel board at K-25, is that what you were doing?
MISS CARY: No, they were really operators.
MR. MCDANIEL: I see they were operators.
MISS CARY: But no we were--
MR. MCDANIEL: --You all did the calculations to make sure that everything was going the way it was suppose to be--
MISS CARY: We did the calculations. That’s right and we checked and double checked and of course it was all new to us. We didn't know anything about what we were doing and why we were doing it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MISS CARY: And we weren't suppose to ask why, just do what it said and that’s it.
MR. MCDANIEL: And that’s it. I can imagine between that and your first job you go pretty good with numbers huh?
MISS CARY: Pretty good with numbers, yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you worked in, how long did you work in that job? In calculations?
MISS CARY: I worked, we worked there for several years.
MR. MCDANIEL: And then what did you do?
MISS CARY: Well we were, along that time maybe five or six years and I think J.C. Laycock got a job and incidentally J.C. lived in this house.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, did he?
MISS CARY: Yes. So he got a job was went to at that time it was maybe A.E.C. or whatever it was called then.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right, the government.
MISS CARY: And later he was transferred to California. His wife was a school teacher, she taught math at Oak Ridge High.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MISS CARY: This is J.C's house and after he moved I think somebody else bought the house, not right off I didn't move here. But somebody had written him or called him and told him that he didn't believe who lived in his house.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: So he called me and said he had just found out I lived in his house.
MR. MCDANIEL: So what did you do after that job? After the calculation job, what did you, do you recall?
MISS CARY: We did just various office work.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: They would still give you a lot of calculations ‘cause it was in the day before computers and we were still in demand. So we still did a lot of that. The other thing and then a little later, sometime later I was responsible for obtaining the data and processing the planed inventory. The inventory in, we called it the cascade, the big U.
MR. MCDANIEL: The inventory, now the inventory of product or just--
MISS CARY: --the uranium inventory.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh really?
MISS CARY: In the cascade. I did that and then later when the computers became available, I worked with one of the computers and we programmed it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Programmed it, oh did you. So--
MISS CARY: -- At first we did it all did it by hand and calculated by hand.
MR. MCDANIEL: And I guess you had to be pretty specific on that?
MISS CARY: Oh yeah. We had to account for every bit that was in there and if they didn't turn out how it was suppose to, they came to me with what happened.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right exactly.
MISS CARY: And I had to trace it and find it. I told them I was all over that building. I crawled over, if we couldn't find blueprints for, we had to figure volumes, temperature, pressures or whatever. If I couldn't find blueprints I crawled over the pipe gallery and actually measured the pipes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Really?
MISS CARY: The size of the pipe, measured it. Sure did.
MR. MCDANIEL: My goodness.
MISS CARY: I knew that building one end to the other.
MR. MCDANIEL: I bet you did. Well my goodness.
MISS CARY: But that was the most interesting job I had.
MR. MCDANIEL: I'm sure it was.
MISS CARY: I was responsible, maybe I had help with the first inventory and we did a brief inventory, a daily. And I was responsible to work on the first one and did the last one.
MR. MCDANIEL: Did you really?
MISS CARY: Yes from the time the plant operated till the time it closed.
MR. MCDANIEL: In 19-- what '85?
MISS CARY: '84 let’s see '85.
MR. MCDANIEL: '85
MISS CARY: September, last of September '85.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you did the first inventory out and the last inventory. My goodness.
MISS CARY: Sure did and then during that time, I don't know how many plant managers we had, maybe six of seven, I was there during the entire time.
MR. MCDANIEL: Were you really?
MISS CARY: Worked with all plant managers.
MR. MCDANIEL: And you went to work there in '44 and--
MISS CARY: '44 and retired in--
MR. MCDANIEL: Retired in '85?
MISS CARY: September '85. Forty-one years.
MR. MCDANIEL: Basically, when they shut down the U?
MISS CARY: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: My goodness.
MISS CARY: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: I bet there are not very many people who could say that.
MISS CARY: Maybe not, there were a couple that--
MR. MCDANIEL: Probably a few--
MISS CARY: --that had a few more years but not at the same plant and the same building, essentially the same building.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, Exactly.
MISS CARY: except the time I worked with Ford, Bacon, and Davis. Well, I loved it. I did really, truly. I've told people I wouldn’t take a million dollars for my job experience.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right? So what made it so much, so interesting and so fun for you?
MISS CARY: A lot of it's the people. I met so many nice people, so many important people that hadn't really had their finger in the pie, or the hole or the pot or whatever. And our contribution to ending the war really.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, exactly.
MISS CARY: And I just enjoyed it. Met so many people and like I said at my birthday party, a lot of them came to the party.
MR. MCDANIEL: I guess everybody knew you didn't they?
MISS CARY: Knew a lot of people.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, but as far as the work. The work at K-25 that you were involved in, a lot of people will say that you know, because of K-25 it shortened the war by a couple of weeks because of you were able to give Y-12 enriched uranium that they could do faster work.
MISS CARY: Right.
MR. MCDANIEL: Then of course the Cold War. The work at K-25 helped end The Cold War.
MISS CARY: Right.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that something you are proud of?
MISS CARY: I'm proud of it. I'm very proud of it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now did you have any friends of acquaintances, or schoolmates that died in World War II?
MISS CARY: I had one schoolmate that was in the Navy and his ship sank.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MISS CARY: And that’s the only one, of course I had two close friends that were in the Navy. My best friend went into the Navy, met her husband there, married and raised her family and she's been gone about five years now.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MISS CARY: And I had another friend in the Navy and she lives in Florida, near Orlando. Kissimmee or whatever it's called.
MR. MCDANIEL: Kissimmee, right. Now all four of your brothers came back right?
MISS CARY: All four did. One was wounded and received a purple heart but he survived thanks goodness. The other broke his leg and was shot in the leg.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right? So, you retired and did you retire in '85.
MISS CARY: In the end of September.
MR. MCDANIEL: --when they turned it off?
MISS CARY: When they turned it off.
MR. MCDANIEL: You, You--
MISS CARY: I wrote a poem about it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh did you? Do you remember it?
MISS CARY: I can remember, I can remember part of it. I've got a copy of it. Let’s see I said-- wrote a poem about the reunion.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh. did you?
MISS CARY: It says "the K-25 reunion, We worked together, Many years. And the time came when we parted. Some of us were glad to go but some were broken hearted. For years we shared each other’s dreams, the good times and the bad, and when it came our time to leave, it made us feel so sad. We all would go our separate ways and some we'd see no more. It was hard to keep the tear drops back as we walked out the door. The water kept going over the dam and many years went by. Then Janie said we all should meet for a reunion she would try. She got in touch all the names she was able to recall, and when she told them all our plans, she said we'll have a ball. Our family had grown older, some had hair of white. We talked and laughed and danced and ate throughout the entire night. We had a picture taken as we lined up near the wall, a special one of me was made, the greatest of them all. I hope that we will meet again, it was a joyous time. Until we do, I will remain high up on my cloud nine".
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh that’s nice. That’s very nice.
MISS CARY: So that’s the way I felt about it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now that was, when did you have the reunion?
MISS CARY: The first one was in '07.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MISS CARY: And then we've had more. We had one in '10. So that’s all we've had the two reunions.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now well let’s go back and talk about, you said in the fall of '44 you met a solider and you all dated a couple years and you got married?
MISS CARY: No, no we didn't get married.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you were living in the dorm?
MISS CARY: Right?
MR. MCDANIEL: Then you moved out of the dorm. When did you move out of the dorm and where did you move?
MISS CARY: My mother of course lived in Kingsport, and my mother came to Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, she did?
MISS CARY: She came to visit, she came to visit me. I guess in the course of, she spent a couple nights up at the guest house and in the course of being up there, of course I worked days and we'd have dinner at night. She met someone up there who said if she was interested in a job that Roane Anderson was hiring.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, okay.
MISS CARY: So she put in her application in and got a job.
MR. MCDANIEL: She did?
MISS CARY: And she came to Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now where the rest of the kids gone? Her kids?
MISS CARY: All the -- let’s see at that time the four boys were in the Army and then me and my younger sister. And of course I was here and mom came on and got the job and my sister stayed on in Kingsport with my dad until we could get housing.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: Of course my sister was still in school.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And mom got a job with Roane Anderson in the payroll department and finally I had my name on the list for housing and we got a house off West Outer.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh you did?
MISS CARY: A duplex. So then my dad, at first my mom got a trailer until I could get the duplex and then my sister came and started to school and junior high, Roberstville Junior High. And then she graduated from Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: But eventually you got a house and everybody moved in together.
MISS CARY: Everybody moved into the house. Of course the boys got out of the Army and one went to work in Ohio and one went to work, got out of the Army, went to school in Nashville and learned the air conditioning, refrigeration business. And he got married and moved to Knoxville, then later moved to Chicago.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you all, about what year was it when you all finally ended up together in that house.
MISS CARY: I would say about '47, '48.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay '47, '48.
MISS CARY: My sister graduated high school in '49.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay what happened then? Where did you live, did you stay there for a while?
MISS CARY: We stayed there for a while, my sister. We stayed until about I guess it was about 1955 and I had married and it didn't work out. I knew this fellow I dated here. Really didn't date him and he was from New Jersey.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: He got out of the, he left when the war was over, went back to New Jersey, was a chemical engineer and got a job with a chemical company that was stationed over the Bahrain Island in the Persian Gulf. So he was over there well I got a Christmas card from him and a note and then I set him a Christmas card and a note in the meantime Oak Ridge had become an open city, opened the gates and he was glad to hear that and he got home he was going to come to Oak Ridge, which he did.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you all ended up getting married?
MISS CARY: We had a real fast courtship. He had already signed a contract to go back.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh really?
MISS CARY: And that was out of the question and I said no way I'm not going to the Persian Gulf.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MISS CARY: We'll get engaged and married when you come back.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: He said you'll meet someone else and get married if that happens. So we got married. So when he came back it was the same. So we got a divorce I believe it was in '55.
MR. MCDANIEL: And now when did you move into this house?
MISS CARY: Well let’s see from the house on West Outer, the duplex. My sister joined the Air Force.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MISS CARY: So she wasn't at home. My father had passed away and just me and my mother. We decided well let’s see if we can get a more permanent house up on Pennsylvania.
MR. MCDANIEL: On Pennsylvania.
MISS CARY: And we got that house, they were still assigning houses, the plant was putting on the list and so we got that house. And the houses were sold and I bought the house.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MISS CARY: And then I guess we stayed up there and my mother passed away when I was up there. We were in that house about twenty-five years.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh really?
MISS CARY: My sister joined the Air Force and she met a fellow in the Air Force and got married and got divorced later.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: She had two children so when they came back, she was stationed in England with them for a while and then she came back, and they were on the verge of getting a divorce so I said well my mom's health is bad.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And mom said, well she can just come live with us. So we were there about twenty-five years. So I've been in this house, it will be about twenty-six years in October.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh okay. Now let me go back and ask you. I'll ask that in a minute. So what kind of, as an adult in Oak Ridge, after the gates were opened and you know you worked but were they're other things that you were involved in? Any organizations or groups? Anything in particular that you enjoyed about Oak Ridge?
MISS CARY: I guess my sister and I both became members of I guess it was the Republican Club. We got active in one really I guess political affair. It was when Winfield Dunn was running for governor. We were really active in that.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh really?
MISS CARY: And then after he became governor, organization fizzled out or whatever. But now it’s just reorganized again so I'm involved in that again.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: I didn't put that on my list.
MR. MCDANIEL: That’s okay.
MISS CARY: But it’s been, I think maybe it was in September when it was reorganized again.
MR. MCDANIEL: Was it?
MISS CARY: It's suppose to be the Republican Women of Anderson County.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh I see.
MISS CARY: But if you live in another county you can still be in it. And I belong to the Eastern Star. And don't go as much as I did. I was doing very well until I fell and broke my leg.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh did you? When did that happen?
MISS CARY: That happened three years ago.
MR. MCDANIEL: Really, okay.
MISS CARY: I don't have the strength I once had in me.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh sure, sure, I understand. Now do you still drive?
MISS CARY: I still drive.
MR. MCDANIEL: Really? Well good for you.
MISS CARY: Everybody-- cross my fingers.
MR. MCDANIEL: Are you one of those that when they see you coming they get out of the way?
MISS CARY: There's that old woman again.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, that’s funny.
MISS CARY: Yeah I'm still driving. I'm driving an old car. They said, “Why don't you trade cars?” I said “You know. As they say you don't buy green tomatoes in June”.
MR. MCDANIEL: Green tomatoes, that’s true. So do you have family around, that are close?
MISS CARY: The closest family I have is my niece in Rockwood. And then Will, he was in Knoxville. He's a musician. He's got a band and does some free-lance writing for the Metro Pulse. I don't know if you familiar with it--
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh sure, sure.
MISS CARY: Right now though, he is interested in the band.
MR. MCDANIEL: But he comes and helps you?
MISS CARY: He's -- he'll see me a lot.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh well that’s good. Is there anything we've not. Oh one more thing and I'm going to ask you if there something we haven't talked about. So you were here in 1945 when the bomb was dropped.
MISS CARY: Right.
MR. MCDANIEL: So tell me what you remember about that.
MISS CARY: Well-- of course we were all curious to what we were doing.
MR. MCDANIEL: Because you didn't know did you.
MISS CARY: Did not know, did not know, hadn't asked any questions. Of course we weren’t suppose to.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: It was never mentioned in all the activities and even dating the boyfriend in the Army. When we left K-25 we left everything out there. We never talked about work. When it happened, everybody was shocked. They announced it at work and we were told I guess it was a converted that had been covered, we had never seen a converter. One of the main, components of the cascade.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And they uncovered that and let us go down and look at it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MISS CARY: Here is one of the things you've been working on, we've been testing and you’ve been doing work. But on that night, the night it was dropped, oh Lordy. We all made a big rush for Jackson Square, and it was a big mob and everybody-- Oh I had an idea of what was going on, and they didn't have an idea of what was going on. I had no idea what we were doing. Had never heard of --
MR. MCDANIEL: Such a thing.
MISS CARY: Yup, the only thing looking back. There was a bookstore, Millers Department Store in Knoxville and several times I had been in their book department and I thought oh this looks good. I thought oh, I was going to get a book just to make an impression.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And the book said “Zirconium and the Seven Thieves”. And I got the book and took it to work with me.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, really?
MISS CARY: It was when I was working for Ford, Bacon, and Davis.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: Didn't know from Adam, so one of the supervisors came through and saw the book and wanted to know if this was your book. And I said yes, do you mind if I take it for a while ‘cause I want to look at it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MISS CARY: I never did read it, I just put it on the front of my desk to impress the--
MR. MCDANIEL: --to make an impression.
MISS CARY: --It didn't work.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh my. That was it?
MISS CARY: That was it. But he said he was going to have to keep it. So he kept the book and told me later that he went over it. I don't know if they found any in Millers or not.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: But it had something to do with the Atom bomb, I mean an atom.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, sure.
MISS CARY: So he got it. I don't know why I picked it up, it just sounded good.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sounded interesting, sounded--
MISS CARY: I thought it would make a good impression.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well it made an impression but not the kind you wanted did it?
MISS CARY: No.
MR. MCDANIEL: Um, do you have any? What's your thoughts now, looking back you know after sixty something years now, you know seventy, almost seventy years. Um you know, how do you feel about the fact that the United States dropped the bomb? Be honest--
MISS CARY: It doesn't bother me.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: I can't really say I'm glad we dropped it but I'm so happy we dropped it. But I am glad it did help end the war.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And like I said, I don't think we should have the Friendship Bell to say we're sorry we dropped it.
MR. MCDANIEL: And to you that’s what the Friendship Bell says, right?
MISS CARY: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Kind of like, I don't want to get into politics.
MISS CARY: Don't.
MR. MCDANIEL: Kind of like Obama apologizing. I might have to cut that part out. All right is there anything, anything we've not talked about that you want to talk about? Anything I've not asked you?
MISS CARY: Well there is one thing I didn't mention that when I went to Kingsport, I told you the Drug store had this little Western Union office.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: I had never had any typing. I didn't know anything about the Western Union but I did learn to type. And at night if I worked at the drug store at night, we weren't too busy. I would practice, practice using that key board.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And learned to use the teleprinter. So when I applied for the job at Kingsport, I applied for the teletype operator and got the job.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh I see.
MISS CARY: So that’s what helped me with that part.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you took it upon yourself to learn that ‘cause you thought you might need that one day.
MISS CARY: And that’s how I got the job in Kingsport, but then of course when I came to Oak Ridge, I did something altogether different.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, exactly.
MISS CARY: Working at the Drugstore and meeting the people and meeting the public and working there, that was the beginning.
MR. MCDANIEL: That helped you later in life didn't it?
MISS CARY: Looking back, and I didn't know if it made a lot of difference, but I met this G.I. he was from Brooklyn, New York. Maybe you've heard of Cooper Union School. It’s a school that always featured something like Berea College, you didn't have to pay any tuition.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: He was a student at Cooper Union in New York. And most of those boys, if they were engineers they were drafted and they had a short training period before they came to Oak Ridge as a member of the SED, Special Engineer Detachment. I enjoyed dating Harry. We went to football games, we went to a lot of movies, we went to a lot of dancing on the tennis courts and there was a place on the Jefferson, we loved to go there.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: He wanted me to go to Brooklyn with him to meet his family. I didn't feel like I should go, I felt like in order to go to New York, you've got to have clothes, you've got to do this and do that.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MISS CARY: I just felt like, that I maybe shouldn't go. And then I regret it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Did you?
MISS CARY: I've regretted that I didn't go. That’s the only thing.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well, we've all had regrets.
MISS CARY: But he married somebody else and had a family and that’s okay.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay, how much of your family is still living?
MISS CARY: No immediate family. All my brothers and sisters are gone.
MR. MCDANIEL: Are they?
MISS CARY: Of course my mother and father.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MISS CARY: I have a lot of nieces and nephews. And Will's my grandnephew.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And I guess that’s the closet family I have. My niece that lives in Rockwood and she has two children.
MR. MCDANIEL: And you never had children?
MISS CARY: Never, didn't have any children. She was a daughter that is a senior over at UT and she has another little one that is nine.
MR. MCDANIEL: So what are your plans for the next ten to twenty years?
MISS CARY: Well I told Will. Will's traveled around a lot. He's been to a lot, to most of the states except Maine.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: I said we'll go to Maine this summer.
MR. MCDANIEL: There you go.
MISS CARY: If I'm up to it, we'll plan a trip to Maine.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well that sounds fun.
MISS CARY: If we could go today, I'm up to it.
MR. MCDANIEL: You feel pretty good now don't you.
MISS CARY: Feel pretty good today.
MR. MCDANIEL: Do you have good days and bad days? You’re in pretty good health?
MISS CARY: Knock on wood. I'm taking a lot of pills and I have what they call, maybe you've heard of it, what they call A. Fib.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure. Arterial Fibrillation
MISS CARY: But for a long time, I've been several times, had my heart shot. That’s what they call it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh really?
MISS CARY: But I haven't been in hospital in almost three years now.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is there anything else you want to talk about?
MISS CARY: Well no, I think we've about covered it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Anyone you want to talk bad about because now is your chance.
MISS CARY: I've met a lot of nice people at K-25. Like I said for my birthday party most of them showed up so that was nice.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well good. All right Miss Cary I appreciate you taking time to talk to us.
MISS CARY: Well, thank you.
[END OF INTERVIEW]

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ORAL HISTORY OF E. RUTH CARY
Interviewed by Keith McDaniel
January 25, 2012
MR. MCDANIEL: This is Keith McDaniel and today is January the 25th, 2012. I am at the home of Ms. E. Ruth Cary here in Oak Ridge. Ms.Cary, thank you for taking time to speak with me. Are you Mrs. Cary, Ms. Cary or Miss Cary?
MISS CARY: Miss Cary.
MR. MCDANIEL: Miss, okay Miss Cary. Okay, thank you for taking time to speak with us.
MISS CARY: Thank you.
MR. MCDANIEL: Let's just start at the beginning. I understand you had a big birthday about a year ago and you will be having another birthday in April, is that right?
MISS CARY: Coming up on my 91st birthday on April the 9th.
MR. MCDANIEL: April 9th. So, 91 years ago, almost, you were born. So why don't we start with that. Why don't you tell me about where you were born and something about your family.
MISS CARY: I was born in and grew up in a small coal mining town in southwest Virginia.
MR. MCDANIEL: Uh huh.
MISS CARY: And I --
MR. MCDANIEL: --What was the name of the town?
MISS CARY: The little mining town was Inman.
MR. MCDANIEL: Inman.
MISS CARY: And it was near Appalachia.
MR. MCDANIEL: Uh huh.
MISS CARY: Big Stone Gap in that area Wise County.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: and I finish high school in Appalachia in 1938.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: And of course grew up in the depression.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yes.
MISS CARY: In a large family.
MR. MCDANIEL: I was about to ask how many brothers and sisters did you have?
MISS CARY: I had, there was really two families. My father had been married before, his wife passed away. He had six children, married my mother and they had four children.
MR. MCDANIEL: So--
MISS CARY: So we became one big family.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you had ten kids.
MISS CARY: Ten kids in the family.
MR. MCDANIEL: And I guess that was kind of tough in those days.
MISS CARY: It was tough, we were fortunate in a way that my father was the butcher in the company store.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh really?
MISS CARY: And that worked out. We really had a lot to eat. But of course it was the depression and everybody was in the same boat and not much else.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, exactly. Now, so he worked, lived in the coal mine--
MISS CARY: In the coal mining town. Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: And he was the butcher in the company store.
MISS CARY: Right.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now how did the depression affect the coal mine?
MISS CARY: It -- the mines were still operating. Of course miners back then didn't make that much money.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: It was really, it was hard times really.
MR. MCDANIEL: I'm sure.
MISS CARY: The kids, very few of the kids even went to high school. We went to in Appalachia, which was maybe two miles --
MR. MCDANIEL: --Uh huh.
MISS CARY: --from the little mining town. And of course it looked like war was on the way, of course it hadn't been declared yet.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And graduating in 1938 before the war, but two of my brothers went in the Army. A lot of boys went into the Army.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And two of my brothers joined the Army. Both were stationed in Hawaii.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: From 1938 till I think they went for two years maybe two and a half and then when they got out of the Army and came back to the little mining town, things were really bad. There's not much work and it was really touch and go for a lot of them.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MISS CARY: And then in 1941 when Pearl Harbor happened, they volunteered to go back and two of my brothers went with them so--
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: And that time I had four brothers in the Army.
MR. MCDANIEL: Four brothers in the service. Now were in Hawaii. Where were they when they went the first time?
MISS CARY: Both of, one of them were stationed at Hickam Field I believe--
MR. MCDANIEL: Hickam Field--
MISS CARY: And then one was at uh – let’s see it wasn't--
MR. MCDANIEL: The reason I – it’s okay, the reason I asked was when my dad was in the service, he was at Hickam Field.
MISS CARY: Oh really?
MR. MCDANIEL: Yeah, but he went about two years after Pearl. I think that’s when he went, about 1943, is when he went to Hickam Field and he was there. So you graduated high school in '38.
MISS CARY: Right.
MR. MCDANIEL: So what did you do after you graduated high school?
MISS CARY: Well, the jobs were hard to find and the little town of Appalachia was the hub, there were several little mining towns that branched off--
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MISS CARY: But there was not much work, nothing at all in the mining town. And the Appalachia they were limited to what you could do.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MISS CARY: So I just kept hoping. I put my application in for the telephone company. And just sort of waited around.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And finally the big place, where everybody was hanging out was the Old Dominion Drug Store.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh really?
MISS CARY: And one day--
MR. MCDANIEL: Was that in Appalachia?
MISS CARY: That was in Appalachia.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MISS CARY: Dr. Holly, who was one of the doctors in town, his nurse was living in the little mining town that we did. We lived in the little section called Church Town.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh really?
MISS CARY: It was across the creek and that’s where the church was. So Dr. Holly's nurse lived there and she came back and said Dr. Holly wanted to know if you could come in, if you would be interested in the job at the Old Dominion. He'd like for you to come in and be interviewed.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MISS CARY: So I got the job at the Drug Store--
MR. MCDANIEL: At the Drug Store.
MISS CARY: Which was great.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh sure, sure.
MISS CARY: The Old Dominion was the place.
MR. MCDANIEL: It was the place?
MISS CARY: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: So what did you do there?
MISS CARY: I did it all.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, did you?
MISS CARY: Yes of course most of -- the counter was the big thing.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MISS CARY: I was the Soda Jerk, was what they called them--
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh were you. Now did Dr.-- did the doctor own the store.
MISS CARY: He owned the Drug Store but he wasn't the pharmacist, he was a medical doctor and he had Dr. Bray was the pharmacist.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay, all right.
MISS CARY: But I went to work at the Drug Store green as grass, didn't know a thing about anything.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now how old were you? Eighteen, nineteen.
MISS CARY: I was seventeen when I graduated, barely seventeen. I graduated at seventeen in April and graduated in May.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right? Okay and how long did it take for you to get that job?
MISS CARY: It was about a year and a half. I just--
MR. MCDANIEL: So you were eighteen almost nineteen when you went to work there?
MISS CARY: When I went to work at the Drug Store.
MR. MCDANIEL: But you were green?
MISS CARY: Oh, I didn't know a thing. The one good thing about it, not at the beginning but later they set up a Western Union booth in the corner which was a really nice, it was tie line from Appalachia to Bristol.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MISS CARY: All we did was type in the message and it went to Bristol and then it was --
MR. MCDANIEL: Gone out from there, sure.
MISS CARY: Yes but I did, I was, I learned to. We made everything from scratch, there was nothing like the ready-made cokes or whatever.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right, you had to mix everything.
MISS CARY: We had to fill the fountain with the syrups and do all the making. We put a little bit of coke syrup…
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, you did?
MISS CARY: Made our own syrup.
MR. MCDANIEL: How did you make carbonated water?
MISS CARY: We just, we didn't make our own carbonated water. It came into the fountain. We got our drum, our gas drum and it was made back in the--
MR. MCDANIEL: You know they are coming out with those now for the home.
MISS CARY: Yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: Little things where you can make your own carbonated water and your own soft drinks--
MISS CARY: --we made our own simple syrups. Just sugar and water.
MR. MCDANIEL: Really?
MISS CARY: And we had to do our own making. There was nothing, not even our ice. We had to shave the ice for the cokes and drinks.
MR. MCDANIEL: Did you?
MISS CARY: Make our own milkshakes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now did you serve food there as well?
MISS CARY: We only served, we had a little, it was a little like a counter--
MR. MCDANIL: Right.
MISS CARY: And it was Campbell's soup.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, really?
MISS CARY: And you had a cup that you plugged into the, well it was just a little counter--
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: You had a little cup that you plugged in and we had the Campbell's soup. It made cheese sandwiches and Dr. Holly's sister made the chicken salad and that’s all we served.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well that’s all you need.
MISS CARY: That’s all we needed. And all the teachers would come up from the high school and have lunch.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right. So how long did you work there?
MISS CARY: I worked there about three years.
MR. MCDANIEL: Three years, okay.
MISS CARY: And about that time, Kingsport, not too far from where we were, I should say. Maybe fifty miles, I've forgotten really the exact millage and the Holston Ordinance Plant was being built. Of course that's where Tennessee Eastman was located.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And this company was, had obtained the big contract to do the Ordinance plant and of course a lot of this, a lot of the sales men would come by the store. And at that time, several of the girls had gone into the Army.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: My best friend had already joined the Navy.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: She hadn't gone yet --
MR. MCDANIEL: uh huh.
MISS CARY: And that’s what I wanted to do.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And I'm sure since she was going, my mother wouldn't object, but my mother didn't want me to go and I wouldn't go because of that.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: So I didn't go to the Navy. So in talking to the salesman, a lot of people were familiar with what was going on in Kingsport. One of the fellows told me, he said, I call on him and he said I'm going to get the name of whatever it is, the personnel director or employment and if you’re interested I can help you get a job over there.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, okay.
MISS CARY: So that’s what happened.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, okay, well good.
MISS CARY: I went over and talked to them and put in my application, and in about three days they called me back to come back for an interview.
MR. MCDANIEL: Uh huh.
MISS CARY: And I got the job.
MR. MCDANIEL: Did you? And so did you move there.
MISS CARY: I went over on myself at first and then later my mother came and I had a younger sister that was still in school and my father, he had just retired and just maybe, oh I don't know six months after he retired from the store, the store burned.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: And the miner, they were going to different places in the community and my mother said she would try to come over later and maybe she could get a job.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh okay.
MISS CARY: So she did and we moved to Kingsport.
MR. MCDANIEL: Moved to Kingsport.
MISS CARY: And we were there about three years.
MR. MCDANIEL: Uh huh.
MISS CARY: And when the job finished, it was an engineering company.
MR. MCDANIEL: Uh huh.
MISS CARY: They finished the job and turned it over to Tennessee Eastman and if we wanted to stay they would talk to us. If they could place us, they would.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: But all my friends were coming to Oak Ridge because Oak Ridge was booming and they had been recruited to come to Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, sure.
MISS CARY: So that’s why I ended up in Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: So how did you, did you just apply for a job in Oak Ridge or how did that happen?
MISS CARY: One of the fellows that I met in Kingsport came to Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MISS CARY: He told me he would help me get on in Oak Ridge, which he did.
MR. MCDANIEL: Because I guess Tennessee Eastman at that point had the contract to basically run Oak Ridge, or to build it.
MISS CARY: Right. They wouldn't talk to me about a job in Kingsport, they wanted me to come to Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: They did?
MISS CARY: But I came and went to work for Ford, Bacon, and Davis.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh did you?
MISS CARY: In Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh okay, now how old where you and what year was it that you came to Oak Ridge?
MISS CARY: It was '44 and I was 23.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you were 23 in '44 and you came to Oak Ridge. What was your first impression of Oak Ridge?
MISS CARY: Oh gosh, of course I went through the employment office and I guess someone from employment took me down into the 1401 building at K-25--
MR. MCDANIEL: --K-25 -
MISS CARY: And I walked into that building, big overhead cranes, huge building and I said, I said that day I'll stay till the world ends, and then I'm going home.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And I was so homesick at first.
MR. MCDANIEL: Were you? Now where did you live?
MISS CARY: Lived in the dorm--
MR. MCDANIEL: Lived in the dorm, now which dorm were you in?
MISS CARY: I lived in Dothan Hall in West Village.
MR. MCDANIEL: In West Village.
MISS CARY: It was across from were the Garden Apartments, we called them--
MR. MCDANIEL: --right.
MISS CARY: Were located.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: There was a cafeteria in that section.
MR. MCDANIEL: Near Jefferson? That Jefferson--
MISS CARY: Near Jefferson and Adams cafeteria.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you lived in a dorm?
MISS CARY: In Dothan Hall, and loved it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Did you?
MISS CARY: I loved the dorm and of course my family was in Kingsport and I was homesick. And If I didn't have to work on weekend I would go to Bristol on the bus and get the train-- Go to Knoxville on the bus and get on a train to Bristol and then get the bus on over to Kingsport.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh really?
MISS CARY: If I didn't have to work on weekends.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now that was some kind of trip now wasn't it?
MISS CARY: Oh yes. Until the Army was here, until I met a boy in the Army and was a little satisfied.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well, there you go. So you came in '44?
MISS CARY: Uh huh.
MR. MCDANIEL: And you worked at K-25 for Ford, Bacon, and Davis?
MISS CARY: Started out and when they finished we were doing some test work, testing some of the equipment that would be placed in the big building that was about to be finished.
MR. MCDANIEL: The K-25 building?
MISS CARY: K big U.
MR. MCDANIEL: The big U, right.
MISS CARY: And--
MR. MCDANIEL: --what kind of testing, what kind of work was it?
MISS CARY: We didn't know what we were doing. We were reading instruments from a panel board.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, I see.
MISS CARY: And then we had a formula that we were to do calculations.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And then we were waiting for our calculators to come in so they gave us the slide rule, to do our formula on. We had to learn all how to do that.
MR. MCDANIEL: Did you know how to use a slide rule?
MISS CARY: Now, I had never seen one. But we learned enough to do multiplication and add, the addition and maybe a division, whatever the formula called for, they taught us to do that.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right, exactly.
MISS CARY: And when the calculators came in they took us off the slide rules and we learned to do the calculator.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MISS CARY: And then we used the calculator.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well that was 1944, so not many people had.
MISS CARY: Didn't have any computers, didn't have much of anything.
MR. MCDANIEL: Nope, you had your brain. So that was '44 and then you said you met a solider.
MISS CARY: A soldier yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: When did you meet him?
MISS CARY: In probably, maybe in the fall of '44.
MR. MCDANIEL: The fall of '44. All right so that made you less homesick?
MISS CARY: Yeah, we dated for about two years--
MR. MCDANIEL: Now what was it like being, other than being homesick before, what was it like being single in Oak Ridge?
MISS CARY: Well there were more women of course. A lot of the boys were in the Army.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And there were more women, eligible women than men.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: But it was nice. There was a lot of recreation. Lots of things to do in Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: In the early days. There was something, really something going on nearly every night. There were theaters, bowling alleys and then Knoxville was close and we could go to Knoxville on the bus.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MISS CARY: A famous eating spot was the S&S cafeteria.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MISS CARY: Right on Gay Street.
MR. MCDANIEL: On Gay Street.
MISS CARY: Lot of times we would go over and have breakfast.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now did you work shift work?
MISS CARY: I started out on the four to twelve shift, not a rotating shift.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh I see.
MISS CARY: But it didn't last long and when we finished the testing, I was assigned to a group and was on their shift.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right? So you worked from four to midnight?
MISS CARY: Right.
MR. MCDANIEL: When you stared out doing the testing work. So there were a lot of activities for young people?
MISS CARY: A lot of activities going on.
MR. MCDANIEL: Was there anything in particular that you like, that you cared for?
MISS CARY: I liked the dance on the tennis courts.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh did you?
MISS CARY: We had dances on -- and there was music, dances at all, we called them the Rec. Hall's.
MR. MCDANIEL: Those were, that was back when they had good music?
MISS CARY: Oh yes. All the big bands.
MR. MCDANIEL: All the big bands. Sure, sure. So you continued to work at K-25.
MISS CARY: I stayed at K-25.
MR. MCDANIEL: Let’s talk about that a little bit. Let’s talk about your career at K-25 and what you did there.
MISS CARY: Well like I said I started out doing the testing and then we were, they broke us up. I guess there might have been on the testing, there was about maybe ten or twelve people to each shift.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And we were all divided and there was-- I guess, I don't know maybe twenty five in the group that was assigned to J.C. Laycock. And he had a group called Production Calculations.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MISS CARY: Of course we were suppose to do all the calculations, all the paperwork for the engineers. Jimmy Parsons, I guess was the head of the engineering group at that time. And we did the calculations, anything that they had for us to do, was assigned to J.C. Laycock's group.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now I've talked to other people and they've said that you would see a group of maybe four or five ladies around a panel board at K-25, is that what you were doing?
MISS CARY: No, they were really operators.
MR. MCDANIEL: I see they were operators.
MISS CARY: But no we were--
MR. MCDANIEL: --You all did the calculations to make sure that everything was going the way it was suppose to be--
MISS CARY: We did the calculations. That’s right and we checked and double checked and of course it was all new to us. We didn't know anything about what we were doing and why we were doing it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MISS CARY: And we weren't suppose to ask why, just do what it said and that’s it.
MR. MCDANIEL: And that’s it. I can imagine between that and your first job you go pretty good with numbers huh?
MISS CARY: Pretty good with numbers, yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you worked in, how long did you work in that job? In calculations?
MISS CARY: I worked, we worked there for several years.
MR. MCDANIEL: And then what did you do?
MISS CARY: Well we were, along that time maybe five or six years and I think J.C. Laycock got a job and incidentally J.C. lived in this house.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, did he?
MISS CARY: Yes. So he got a job was went to at that time it was maybe A.E.C. or whatever it was called then.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right, the government.
MISS CARY: And later he was transferred to California. His wife was a school teacher, she taught math at Oak Ridge High.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MISS CARY: This is J.C's house and after he moved I think somebody else bought the house, not right off I didn't move here. But somebody had written him or called him and told him that he didn't believe who lived in his house.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: So he called me and said he had just found out I lived in his house.
MR. MCDANIEL: So what did you do after that job? After the calculation job, what did you, do you recall?
MISS CARY: We did just various office work.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: They would still give you a lot of calculations ‘cause it was in the day before computers and we were still in demand. So we still did a lot of that. The other thing and then a little later, sometime later I was responsible for obtaining the data and processing the planed inventory. The inventory in, we called it the cascade, the big U.
MR. MCDANIEL: The inventory, now the inventory of product or just--
MISS CARY: --the uranium inventory.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh really?
MISS CARY: In the cascade. I did that and then later when the computers became available, I worked with one of the computers and we programmed it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Programmed it, oh did you. So--
MISS CARY: -- At first we did it all did it by hand and calculated by hand.
MR. MCDANIEL: And I guess you had to be pretty specific on that?
MISS CARY: Oh yeah. We had to account for every bit that was in there and if they didn't turn out how it was suppose to, they came to me with what happened.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right exactly.
MISS CARY: And I had to trace it and find it. I told them I was all over that building. I crawled over, if we couldn't find blueprints for, we had to figure volumes, temperature, pressures or whatever. If I couldn't find blueprints I crawled over the pipe gallery and actually measured the pipes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Really?
MISS CARY: The size of the pipe, measured it. Sure did.
MR. MCDANIEL: My goodness.
MISS CARY: I knew that building one end to the other.
MR. MCDANIEL: I bet you did. Well my goodness.
MISS CARY: But that was the most interesting job I had.
MR. MCDANIEL: I'm sure it was.
MISS CARY: I was responsible, maybe I had help with the first inventory and we did a brief inventory, a daily. And I was responsible to work on the first one and did the last one.
MR. MCDANIEL: Did you really?
MISS CARY: Yes from the time the plant operated till the time it closed.
MR. MCDANIEL: In 19-- what '85?
MISS CARY: '84 let’s see '85.
MR. MCDANIEL: '85
MISS CARY: September, last of September '85.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you did the first inventory out and the last inventory. My goodness.
MISS CARY: Sure did and then during that time, I don't know how many plant managers we had, maybe six of seven, I was there during the entire time.
MR. MCDANIEL: Were you really?
MISS CARY: Worked with all plant managers.
MR. MCDANIEL: And you went to work there in '44 and--
MISS CARY: '44 and retired in--
MR. MCDANIEL: Retired in '85?
MISS CARY: September '85. Forty-one years.
MR. MCDANIEL: Basically, when they shut down the U?
MISS CARY: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: My goodness.
MISS CARY: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: I bet there are not very many people who could say that.
MISS CARY: Maybe not, there were a couple that--
MR. MCDANIEL: Probably a few--
MISS CARY: --that had a few more years but not at the same plant and the same building, essentially the same building.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, Exactly.
MISS CARY: except the time I worked with Ford, Bacon, and Davis. Well, I loved it. I did really, truly. I've told people I wouldn’t take a million dollars for my job experience.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right? So what made it so much, so interesting and so fun for you?
MISS CARY: A lot of it's the people. I met so many nice people, so many important people that hadn't really had their finger in the pie, or the hole or the pot or whatever. And our contribution to ending the war really.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, exactly.
MISS CARY: And I just enjoyed it. Met so many people and like I said at my birthday party, a lot of them came to the party.
MR. MCDANIEL: I guess everybody knew you didn't they?
MISS CARY: Knew a lot of people.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, but as far as the work. The work at K-25 that you were involved in, a lot of people will say that you know, because of K-25 it shortened the war by a couple of weeks because of you were able to give Y-12 enriched uranium that they could do faster work.
MISS CARY: Right.
MR. MCDANIEL: Then of course the Cold War. The work at K-25 helped end The Cold War.
MISS CARY: Right.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that something you are proud of?
MISS CARY: I'm proud of it. I'm very proud of it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now did you have any friends of acquaintances, or schoolmates that died in World War II?
MISS CARY: I had one schoolmate that was in the Navy and his ship sank.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MISS CARY: And that’s the only one, of course I had two close friends that were in the Navy. My best friend went into the Navy, met her husband there, married and raised her family and she's been gone about five years now.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MISS CARY: And I had another friend in the Navy and she lives in Florida, near Orlando. Kissimmee or whatever it's called.
MR. MCDANIEL: Kissimmee, right. Now all four of your brothers came back right?
MISS CARY: All four did. One was wounded and received a purple heart but he survived thanks goodness. The other broke his leg and was shot in the leg.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right? So, you retired and did you retire in '85.
MISS CARY: In the end of September.
MR. MCDANIEL: --when they turned it off?
MISS CARY: When they turned it off.
MR. MCDANIEL: You, You--
MISS CARY: I wrote a poem about it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh did you? Do you remember it?
MISS CARY: I can remember, I can remember part of it. I've got a copy of it. Let’s see I said-- wrote a poem about the reunion.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh. did you?
MISS CARY: It says "the K-25 reunion, We worked together, Many years. And the time came when we parted. Some of us were glad to go but some were broken hearted. For years we shared each other’s dreams, the good times and the bad, and when it came our time to leave, it made us feel so sad. We all would go our separate ways and some we'd see no more. It was hard to keep the tear drops back as we walked out the door. The water kept going over the dam and many years went by. Then Janie said we all should meet for a reunion she would try. She got in touch all the names she was able to recall, and when she told them all our plans, she said we'll have a ball. Our family had grown older, some had hair of white. We talked and laughed and danced and ate throughout the entire night. We had a picture taken as we lined up near the wall, a special one of me was made, the greatest of them all. I hope that we will meet again, it was a joyous time. Until we do, I will remain high up on my cloud nine".
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh that’s nice. That’s very nice.
MISS CARY: So that’s the way I felt about it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now that was, when did you have the reunion?
MISS CARY: The first one was in '07.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MISS CARY: And then we've had more. We had one in '10. So that’s all we've had the two reunions.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now well let’s go back and talk about, you said in the fall of '44 you met a solider and you all dated a couple years and you got married?
MISS CARY: No, no we didn't get married.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you were living in the dorm?
MISS CARY: Right?
MR. MCDANIEL: Then you moved out of the dorm. When did you move out of the dorm and where did you move?
MISS CARY: My mother of course lived in Kingsport, and my mother came to Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, she did?
MISS CARY: She came to visit, she came to visit me. I guess in the course of, she spent a couple nights up at the guest house and in the course of being up there, of course I worked days and we'd have dinner at night. She met someone up there who said if she was interested in a job that Roane Anderson was hiring.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, okay.
MISS CARY: So she put in her application in and got a job.
MR. MCDANIEL: She did?
MISS CARY: And she came to Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now where the rest of the kids gone? Her kids?
MISS CARY: All the -- let’s see at that time the four boys were in the Army and then me and my younger sister. And of course I was here and mom came on and got the job and my sister stayed on in Kingsport with my dad until we could get housing.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: Of course my sister was still in school.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And mom got a job with Roane Anderson in the payroll department and finally I had my name on the list for housing and we got a house off West Outer.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh you did?
MISS CARY: A duplex. So then my dad, at first my mom got a trailer until I could get the duplex and then my sister came and started to school and junior high, Roberstville Junior High. And then she graduated from Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: But eventually you got a house and everybody moved in together.
MISS CARY: Everybody moved into the house. Of course the boys got out of the Army and one went to work in Ohio and one went to work, got out of the Army, went to school in Nashville and learned the air conditioning, refrigeration business. And he got married and moved to Knoxville, then later moved to Chicago.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you all, about what year was it when you all finally ended up together in that house.
MISS CARY: I would say about '47, '48.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay '47, '48.
MISS CARY: My sister graduated high school in '49.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay what happened then? Where did you live, did you stay there for a while?
MISS CARY: We stayed there for a while, my sister. We stayed until about I guess it was about 1955 and I had married and it didn't work out. I knew this fellow I dated here. Really didn't date him and he was from New Jersey.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: He got out of the, he left when the war was over, went back to New Jersey, was a chemical engineer and got a job with a chemical company that was stationed over the Bahrain Island in the Persian Gulf. So he was over there well I got a Christmas card from him and a note and then I set him a Christmas card and a note in the meantime Oak Ridge had become an open city, opened the gates and he was glad to hear that and he got home he was going to come to Oak Ridge, which he did.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you all ended up getting married?
MISS CARY: We had a real fast courtship. He had already signed a contract to go back.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh really?
MISS CARY: And that was out of the question and I said no way I'm not going to the Persian Gulf.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MISS CARY: We'll get engaged and married when you come back.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: He said you'll meet someone else and get married if that happens. So we got married. So when he came back it was the same. So we got a divorce I believe it was in '55.
MR. MCDANIEL: And now when did you move into this house?
MISS CARY: Well let’s see from the house on West Outer, the duplex. My sister joined the Air Force.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MISS CARY: So she wasn't at home. My father had passed away and just me and my mother. We decided well let’s see if we can get a more permanent house up on Pennsylvania.
MR. MCDANIEL: On Pennsylvania.
MISS CARY: And we got that house, they were still assigning houses, the plant was putting on the list and so we got that house. And the houses were sold and I bought the house.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MISS CARY: And then I guess we stayed up there and my mother passed away when I was up there. We were in that house about twenty-five years.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh really?
MISS CARY: My sister joined the Air Force and she met a fellow in the Air Force and got married and got divorced later.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: She had two children so when they came back, she was stationed in England with them for a while and then she came back, and they were on the verge of getting a divorce so I said well my mom's health is bad.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And mom said, well she can just come live with us. So we were there about twenty-five years. So I've been in this house, it will be about twenty-six years in October.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh okay. Now let me go back and ask you. I'll ask that in a minute. So what kind of, as an adult in Oak Ridge, after the gates were opened and you know you worked but were they're other things that you were involved in? Any organizations or groups? Anything in particular that you enjoyed about Oak Ridge?
MISS CARY: I guess my sister and I both became members of I guess it was the Republican Club. We got active in one really I guess political affair. It was when Winfield Dunn was running for governor. We were really active in that.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh really?
MISS CARY: And then after he became governor, organization fizzled out or whatever. But now it’s just reorganized again so I'm involved in that again.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: I didn't put that on my list.
MR. MCDANIEL: That’s okay.
MISS CARY: But it’s been, I think maybe it was in September when it was reorganized again.
MR. MCDANIEL: Was it?
MISS CARY: It's suppose to be the Republican Women of Anderson County.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh I see.
MISS CARY: But if you live in another county you can still be in it. And I belong to the Eastern Star. And don't go as much as I did. I was doing very well until I fell and broke my leg.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh did you? When did that happen?
MISS CARY: That happened three years ago.
MR. MCDANIEL: Really, okay.
MISS CARY: I don't have the strength I once had in me.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh sure, sure, I understand. Now do you still drive?
MISS CARY: I still drive.
MR. MCDANIEL: Really? Well good for you.
MISS CARY: Everybody-- cross my fingers.
MR. MCDANIEL: Are you one of those that when they see you coming they get out of the way?
MISS CARY: There's that old woman again.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, that’s funny.
MISS CARY: Yeah I'm still driving. I'm driving an old car. They said, “Why don't you trade cars?” I said “You know. As they say you don't buy green tomatoes in June”.
MR. MCDANIEL: Green tomatoes, that’s true. So do you have family around, that are close?
MISS CARY: The closest family I have is my niece in Rockwood. And then Will, he was in Knoxville. He's a musician. He's got a band and does some free-lance writing for the Metro Pulse. I don't know if you familiar with it--
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh sure, sure.
MISS CARY: Right now though, he is interested in the band.
MR. MCDANIEL: But he comes and helps you?
MISS CARY: He's -- he'll see me a lot.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh well that’s good. Is there anything we've not. Oh one more thing and I'm going to ask you if there something we haven't talked about. So you were here in 1945 when the bomb was dropped.
MISS CARY: Right.
MR. MCDANIEL: So tell me what you remember about that.
MISS CARY: Well-- of course we were all curious to what we were doing.
MR. MCDANIEL: Because you didn't know did you.
MISS CARY: Did not know, did not know, hadn't asked any questions. Of course we weren’t suppose to.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: It was never mentioned in all the activities and even dating the boyfriend in the Army. When we left K-25 we left everything out there. We never talked about work. When it happened, everybody was shocked. They announced it at work and we were told I guess it was a converted that had been covered, we had never seen a converter. One of the main, components of the cascade.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And they uncovered that and let us go down and look at it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MISS CARY: Here is one of the things you've been working on, we've been testing and you’ve been doing work. But on that night, the night it was dropped, oh Lordy. We all made a big rush for Jackson Square, and it was a big mob and everybody-- Oh I had an idea of what was going on, and they didn't have an idea of what was going on. I had no idea what we were doing. Had never heard of --
MR. MCDANIEL: Such a thing.
MISS CARY: Yup, the only thing looking back. There was a bookstore, Millers Department Store in Knoxville and several times I had been in their book department and I thought oh this looks good. I thought oh, I was going to get a book just to make an impression.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And the book said “Zirconium and the Seven Thieves”. And I got the book and took it to work with me.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, really?
MISS CARY: It was when I was working for Ford, Bacon, and Davis.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: Didn't know from Adam, so one of the supervisors came through and saw the book and wanted to know if this was your book. And I said yes, do you mind if I take it for a while ‘cause I want to look at it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MISS CARY: I never did read it, I just put it on the front of my desk to impress the--
MR. MCDANIEL: --to make an impression.
MISS CARY: --It didn't work.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh my. That was it?
MISS CARY: That was it. But he said he was going to have to keep it. So he kept the book and told me later that he went over it. I don't know if they found any in Millers or not.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: But it had something to do with the Atom bomb, I mean an atom.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, sure.
MISS CARY: So he got it. I don't know why I picked it up, it just sounded good.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sounded interesting, sounded--
MISS CARY: I thought it would make a good impression.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well it made an impression but not the kind you wanted did it?
MISS CARY: No.
MR. MCDANIEL: Um, do you have any? What's your thoughts now, looking back you know after sixty something years now, you know seventy, almost seventy years. Um you know, how do you feel about the fact that the United States dropped the bomb? Be honest--
MISS CARY: It doesn't bother me.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: I can't really say I'm glad we dropped it but I'm so happy we dropped it. But I am glad it did help end the war.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And like I said, I don't think we should have the Friendship Bell to say we're sorry we dropped it.
MR. MCDANIEL: And to you that’s what the Friendship Bell says, right?
MISS CARY: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Kind of like, I don't want to get into politics.
MISS CARY: Don't.
MR. MCDANIEL: Kind of like Obama apologizing. I might have to cut that part out. All right is there anything, anything we've not talked about that you want to talk about? Anything I've not asked you?
MISS CARY: Well there is one thing I didn't mention that when I went to Kingsport, I told you the Drug store had this little Western Union office.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: I had never had any typing. I didn't know anything about the Western Union but I did learn to type. And at night if I worked at the drug store at night, we weren't too busy. I would practice, practice using that key board.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And learned to use the teleprinter. So when I applied for the job at Kingsport, I applied for the teletype operator and got the job.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh I see.
MISS CARY: So that’s what helped me with that part.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you took it upon yourself to learn that ‘cause you thought you might need that one day.
MISS CARY: And that’s how I got the job in Kingsport, but then of course when I came to Oak Ridge, I did something altogether different.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, exactly.
MISS CARY: Working at the Drugstore and meeting the people and meeting the public and working there, that was the beginning.
MR. MCDANIEL: That helped you later in life didn't it?
MISS CARY: Looking back, and I didn't know if it made a lot of difference, but I met this G.I. he was from Brooklyn, New York. Maybe you've heard of Cooper Union School. It’s a school that always featured something like Berea College, you didn't have to pay any tuition.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: He was a student at Cooper Union in New York. And most of those boys, if they were engineers they were drafted and they had a short training period before they came to Oak Ridge as a member of the SED, Special Engineer Detachment. I enjoyed dating Harry. We went to football games, we went to a lot of movies, we went to a lot of dancing on the tennis courts and there was a place on the Jefferson, we loved to go there.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: He wanted me to go to Brooklyn with him to meet his family. I didn't feel like I should go, I felt like in order to go to New York, you've got to have clothes, you've got to do this and do that.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MISS CARY: I just felt like, that I maybe shouldn't go. And then I regret it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Did you?
MISS CARY: I've regretted that I didn't go. That’s the only thing.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well, we've all had regrets.
MISS CARY: But he married somebody else and had a family and that’s okay.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay, how much of your family is still living?
MISS CARY: No immediate family. All my brothers and sisters are gone.
MR. MCDANIEL: Are they?
MISS CARY: Of course my mother and father.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MISS CARY: I have a lot of nieces and nephews. And Will's my grandnephew.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MISS CARY: And I guess that’s the closet family I have. My niece that lives in Rockwood and she has two children.
MR. MCDANIEL: And you never had children?
MISS CARY: Never, didn't have any children. She was a daughter that is a senior over at UT and she has another little one that is nine.
MR. MCDANIEL: So what are your plans for the next ten to twenty years?
MISS CARY: Well I told Will. Will's traveled around a lot. He's been to a lot, to most of the states except Maine.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh is that right?
MISS CARY: I said we'll go to Maine this summer.
MR. MCDANIEL: There you go.
MISS CARY: If I'm up to it, we'll plan a trip to Maine.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well that sounds fun.
MISS CARY: If we could go today, I'm up to it.
MR. MCDANIEL: You feel pretty good now don't you.
MISS CARY: Feel pretty good today.
MR. MCDANIEL: Do you have good days and bad days? You’re in pretty good health?
MISS CARY: Knock on wood. I'm taking a lot of pills and I have what they call, maybe you've heard of it, what they call A. Fib.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure. Arterial Fibrillation
MISS CARY: But for a long time, I've been several times, had my heart shot. That’s what they call it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh really?
MISS CARY: But I haven't been in hospital in almost three years now.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is there anything else you want to talk about?
MISS CARY: Well no, I think we've about covered it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Anyone you want to talk bad about because now is your chance.
MISS CARY: I've met a lot of nice people at K-25. Like I said for my birthday party most of them showed up so that was nice.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well good. All right Miss Cary I appreciate you taking time to talk to us.
MISS CARY: Well, thank you.
[END OF INTERVIEW]